“The limo isn’t for you anymore.” — Her fiancé gave her wedding car to another woman, but never expected the bride to walk away and take his empire with her.

PART 2

I looked down at the engagement ring Grant had placed on my finger eighteen months earlier.

“Back to the apartment.”

Curtis’s eyes met mine in the mirror.

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

It was the first honest answer I had given all morning.

Then I took a breath.

“But turn around anyway.”

My phone began vibrating again.

This time, the messages came from a private group chat called The Originals. Grant’s childhood friends had added me when we became engaged, although they rarely spoke when I was present.

That morning, the chat exploded with photographs.

Tessa in the limousine.

Tessa holding my bouquet.

Tessa touching Grant’s face while he smiled at her.

Her caption read, *Some people only realize what they lost when they see you beside the man who never stopped choosing you.*

Mark, Grant’s oldest friend, replied first.

*About time the right woman got the bridal car.*

Then Grant’s cousin, Eli, wrote, *I always thought these two would end up together.*

Another message appeared.

*Nora was the safe choice after Tessa moved away.*

My fingers went numb.

These were people who had eaten at my table.

People whose birthdays I remembered.

People who had praised the desserts I developed for Grant’s restaurant company and thanked me for helping him build his career.

Not one of them defended me.

Then Grant entered the chat.

For one foolish second, I expected him to stop them.

Instead, he wrote, *Don’t talk about Nora right now. Tessa needs a happy day.*

I typed before fear could stop me.

*Whose wedding do you all think this is?*

The chat went silent.

A minute later, Mark replied.

*Wrong group. Sorry.*

Grant called immediately.

I answered.

“Delete your message,” he said.

No apology.

No explanation.

“Why?”

“You embarrassed Tessa.”

I laughed once, though there was nothing funny in me.

“I embarrassed her?”

“She’s crying now.”

“Then perhaps she should get out of my limousine and take off my dress.”

“Nora, lower your voice.”

“I’m sitting alone in a car.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, Grant. I don’t think I do anymore.”

He exhaled sharply.

“We have two hundred guests waiting. My mother has been organizing this day for a year. The company’s investors are attending. You need to stop reacting emotionally.”

“Your friends called me a replacement.”

“They’ve known Tessa since kindergarten.”

“So that makes it acceptable?”

“It means relationships are complicated.”

“No. It means they disrespect me because you taught them they could.”

On the other end, I heard Tessa sobbing.

Grant covered the phone, but not well enough.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured to her. “Nora gets overwhelmed. She’ll calm down.”

Something cold moved through me.

I had heard that promise before.

*She’ll calm down.*

*She’ll forgive me.*

*She won’t leave.*

Grant returned to the call.

“Apologize in the group,” he said. “Tell everyone you misunderstood.”

“I didn’t misunderstand anything.”